Not Always Normal
by thosetwosuspects
Summary: AU Naruto and Sachiko went missing years ago, leaving their closest friends Sasuke and Kayre abruptly and mysteriously. The two disappearances had been on opposite ends of the world, but now lives and people begin to entwine and nothing is normal anymore.
1. Chapter 1

THIS IS AN **ALTERNATE UNIVERSE** STORY TO NARUTO!  
_THERE MAY ALSO BE OOCness AND WILL NOT BE CHAKRA OR MAGICAL THINGS!  
_STORY SWITCHES FROM ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER VERY QUICKLY. BE WARNED!  
IF YOU HAPPEN TO ENCOUNTER OOCness PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BE HUMORED!

Kayre and Sachiko are OC's. At this point, it looks like Kayre will be paired with Kiba, but we did begin the story with the intent of putting Kayre and Gaara together, so I'm not sure how that one's going to work out. Sachiko is meant to be paired with Sasuke, but for reasons that have been hinted on, seems to be married to someone else.

And as such things do happen in the real world, we don't own Naruto.

A joint piece of work done by Rin Sessys Girl and Tsubasa Kya

* * *

**Not Always Normal**

Chapter one

_--The hospital-- _

There was a knock on the front door to Sasuke's apartment. Or, more accurately, there were a _series_ of knocks that sounded more like the sound of a person attempting to wake the dead. This probably didn't bode well for the intruder, considering said intruder had decided to pop in for a visit at... **2:42 AM**

Sasuke happened to not be pleased at all!!! Really!!? What kind of imbecile visits someone's house at 2:42AM IN THE GOD DAMN MORNING?!?! Moving to get out of bed while whipping the blankets off him to the side he made his way to the door in a very unhappy manner. His hair was disheveled and he was only wearing a pair of boxers to boot... Hopefully it was Naruto and not a woman at his door, that way he could punch the bastard for waking him up!!! He began to unlock the door but moved the chain so it would only open so far just for safe keeping if it wasn't Naruto...Opening the door as much as it would allow he peered out with angry black eyes, "Who is it?"

"Open the door," It was Naruto after all. Damn, Sasuke hadn't seen the guy since high school and now all of a sudden Naruto had the audacity to show up. Naruto was one of Sasuke's favorite sparring partners in the kendo club back then, but then one day the guy simply disappeared. His apartment was empty, his parents were gone, and it was as if Naruto Uzumaki simply hadn't existed at all.

But there the blonde was, and unfortunately, the blonde was also bleeding heavily from a gash on his forehead.

He had blue-purple bruises littering the places on his arms that were visible through the tee-shirt he wore, and one eye was so puffy it was glued shut. His lip was split and it looked like someone had given him a good whooping. He was not exactly in any 'beatupable' state. He almost looked ready to pass out right then and there, but he was undeniably the same Naruto Sasuke had once known.

"Shit." Sasuke cursed under his breath unlocking the chain from the door, to grab the man and get him into the room, before quickly locking the door up behind him. "What the heck did you get yourself into, Naruto.." He frowned, "And why show up here now." He sighed inwardly, "If you weren't already beat shitless I'd beat you for waking me."

Shifting, Sasuke moved to get Naruto into the bathroom and off the carpet before he got blood on that. Then there really would be questions if the inspectors found that!! Seeing how the bathroom floor was tiled the mess would be easily cleaned up, and his emergency aid kit happened to be in there too...

"Sorry t' jus' show up," Naruto said, nearly unconscious as it was. He pulled out a ripped out page from a telephone book. "I... looked you up... I jus' need a place t' crash for the night. I'll get outta your hair in the... morning." His good eye rolled in its socket, but he managed to steady himself once he saw the first aid kit. He grabbed it from Sasuke's fingers, opening it and shifting through it, wincing with every other move he made.

His fingers found the small pill bottle within, and he fumbled with the cap to the pain killers. The first aid kit smashed to the floor and Naruto dumped five pills into his hand and put them in his mouth, swallowing them dry. It was clear he would have taken more if they were available, but the bottle was empty. Sasuke hadn't even known he was running out of pain killers in his first aid kit...

Sasuke's frown deepened, "So what exactly did you do this time moron." He shifted in a crouching position to gather the first aid kit off the round. He pulled out some ointment and bandages while he was at it. But first he grabbed a clean rag to get wet with warm water to clean the gash on his forehead.

"Hold that there." He ordered, "And don't pass out on me yet." He left the bathroom momentarily; luckily for Naruto, Sasuke had some spare pain killers in the kitchen medicine cabinet. He returned with the new bottle of pain killers to set on the sink. He then gently moved Naruto's hand away from the rag to go back to clean it himself; when satisfied with it did he open the ointment bottle to place upon the gash followed with bandaging his forehead.

Sasuke happened to work as an excellent doctor, but being that he didn't have Naruto at the hospital and the fact Naruto wouldn't be caught dead in the hospital, he could only do what he could do for him with what items he had.

Naruto grabbed the bottle and struggled with the cap. "You were... the only doctor I knew," Naruto said, completely avoiding the whole 'what happened' question. "At least, I knew you wanted to be one back in high school... and you always... damn it what the fuck is with these caps?" he growled and smashed the bottle against the side of the sink, creating a dent in the bottle, but at least the cap popped off with the force. He started dumping the pain killers in his hand, obviously not caring or realizing that if he took all those, he would overdose. The little red tablets overflowed out of his hand, dropping to the floor as he shifted his hand, about to down the overload of painkillers.

Unfortunately for Naruto Sasuke stopped him from doing that, "You do that you're gonna overdose and kill your self moron." He scowled, "Just take it easy and give what you already taken to kick in." He took away the pills to put back into the dented bottle and recapped it. He made sure to keep the kit out of Naruto's reach though. "I have something else that will numb the pain with a little time." He put the kit away to leave the room once more. Sasuke entered a little study room; a sort of lab you could say. He was a doctor but certainly just as much as a scientist. With his status he did some experiments on making new antidotes and medicines. On of those experiments was very successful in numbing the pain in ones body.

Moving through his items he located his new created medicine as well as a needle. Opening it, being one not used, he went about to placing the liquid medication into the needle. Removing the air out of it he went back to Naruto.

"Hold out your arm."

Naruto saw the needle and, for reasons unknown to Sasuke, he freaked out. He shot away from Sasuke, tripping on the rim of the tub. The curtain ripped off half its rails. "Stay away from me with that!" Naruto shrieked, cowering in the corner of the bath with his arms out in front of him. His good eye was as wide as a tennis ball. "I don't want to! I don't want to anymore! Stay away!" He looked like he wanted nothing more than to be gone all of a sudden.

Sasuke blinked in surprised and set the needle down to move over to him, 'Naruto it's ok I'm not going to hurt you." He tried to reason with the frighten man, "Here how about we try a nice warm bath to help instead?" 'What could he possibly be doing that a needle would frighten him so badly...' He wondered thoughtfully.

Naruto did calm down a little, but his good eye darted constantly toward the needle on the sink. "I... I should... I have to go," he said. He pushed Sasuke away from him and darted toward the bathroom door. As he passed the cupboard in the bathroom, he grabbed the first aid kit from the top shelf, with the bottle of pills rattling inside it...

Sasuke was hot on his heels though and stopped him from going anywhere along with his aid kit!!! D "I believe that's stealing Naruto, and last I checked you were in no condition to be going anywhere." He jerked the aid kit out of Naruto's hand...

Naruto growled and reached for the kit. "Give it to me! I need it. I _need_ it!" That statement in itself was telling enough. Naruto was addicted to pain killers. Could things have gotten so bad in Naruto's life since he disappeared so long ago? How many years had it been? Eight? Nine? A lot could have happened since then. "You don't understand! I need it. I'll go. I'll leave now, but just _give_ them to me!"

But... a drug addict so afraid of needles?

"No." Sasuke said firmly, "You only believe you need it. Naruto you're clearly addicted to pain killers; as a doctor I can't just let you walk out of here with them."

"Then I'll _take_ them." Naruto snarled. He never got a chance to act on that threat though. His eye rolled and he moaned, falling to his knees. He held his head in his hands, sobbing. "I swear, I swear I'll be good," he promised someone not present. "Just don't do it, don't do it... I won't do it anymore, but don't do it..._please_," he begged, "please don't do it to me..." His face was streaked with tears as much as black and blue bruises. The gash on his forehead had already bled through the bandage; he would need stitches, doubtlessly.

Sasuke frowned quietly and moved the aid kit far from Naruto for the time being before moving back to his fallen friend. He shifted to his own knees hesitating before touching Naruto's shoulder and moving the other male to his frame in a comforting hug... Or at least he hoped it was comforting.. "Shh, Naruto...No ones here, it's just us. I won't let them get to you..." He promised gently as he rubbed his back softly trying to calm Naruto as best as he could.

Soon, Naruto's shaking and sobbing stopped...he was unconscious, leaning heavily against Sasuke.

By that time, Sasuke's alarm clock was going off. The wall clock read 6:30 AM. He had to be at work at 8 AM.

'Well at least he's unconscious now..' Sasuke thought quietly before grimacing at the alarm clock. "Crap so much for sleep..." He sighed looking at Naruto in his arms. Now he was bloody with Naruto's own blood on him. With a low grunt hoped the man would stay unconscious and hopped in the shower. He didn't worry about cleaning Naruto up. He would just wrap him in a blanket to keep the blood from his car and let the hospital clean the guy up.

Sasuke then dressed his frame into clean clothes of course. Ready to leave he wrapped Naruto up into a blanket to carry out of his home to make way out of the building and to his car where he would leave for work.

Sasuke's luck was definitely NOT on his side. His friend Gaara leaned on his car, looking bored to tears. When Gaara saw Sasuke and the unfortunate bundle the guy was carrying, Gaara frowned. "I'm **not** getting involved with the disposal of any bodies." Gaara told him. "I'll sooner **walk** to work."

Gaara was Sasuke's neighbor, sort of. He lived in the apartment building across the street and owned a book store with a little coffee shop just down the street from the hospital where Sasuke worked. With the help of Gaara's siblings, the place was a cozy little get-away where many doctors and nurses went for their lunch break. It had decent sandwiches and various flavors of coffee and tea, and at a reasonable price. Through Gaara's little business, Sasuke had met him.

Eventually they came to know each other a little better and found out they lived practically next door to each other. Gaara didn't have a car so during the winter months--as it was December now--Sasuke usually offered Gaara a ride as far as the hospital where Gaara would walk the much more manageable distance from there.

Gaara was as hot-tempered sometimes as he was a red-head. His piercing green orbs met Sasuke's firmly in his decision. He didn't like illegitimate dealings.

Sasuke scowled, "He's not dead Gaara. He's unconscious right now... He's an old friend from High School.." He frowned sadly, "Poor bastard showed up at my door at 2:42 AM in the morning beaten shitless...I haven't' seen him for 9 years; he up and disappeared for so long and now this... He needs medical attention that's I know... He seems to be suffering from an addiction to pain killers, but...he freaked out when he saw me with a needle let alone seems to be hearing voices.. Whatever those voices are they appear to be threatening him with.. .something... that it would make him cry." He shifted the body in his arms to thrown the keys at Gaara, "I'm afraid you're gonna have to drive though..."

Gaara caught the keys easily but he really didn't want to do the illegal thing of driving three in two seats. "It'd save you a lot of time if you got more than a two-seater sports car." He said. He unlocked the doors and went around to the passenger side, opening it for the doctor. "I have to say this is incredibly ridiculous. Two seats generally means two or less people."

"Oh save your complaining for another day Gaara." Sasuke grumbled, "Stitching you up Naruto Uzumaki is gonna be a pain..." He muttered under his breath as if Naruto could hear him, before shifting to sit down into the seat with his "precious" bundle. He mentally made a note to have some random nurse do the work.

Gaara raised his eyebrow at Sasuke. "Complaining is a sport in my family." he told the doctor and then shut the door. He went back around to the driver's seat and got in. He started up the car and began to drive toward the inner city. "Any idea what happened? Not every day a guy shows up at your door half crazy, a drug addict, and half dead." Gaara asked.

"He wouldn't tell me.. He completely avoided my questions.." His frown deepened.

"Yeah, well, you said you knew him. Does this all seem like the sort of thing he would've done nine years ago?" Gaara questioned. He stole a glance at the bundled figure and nearly winced at how much pain the guy probably was going through.

It didn't seem to Sasuke that this was something the Naruto he knew in high school would have done. That Naruto had a good home-life, he was loved by both his mother and his father, and though he liked a good match up every so often, he wasn't particularly _violent_. The Naruto of nine years ago also was severely against medication of any kind, even if it was cough medication. He would refuse to take it.

But the Naruto of now had proved he was violent, somewhat unstable too. He was addicted to pain killers, and not to mention he was willing to fight for those drugs.

"No...The Naruto I knew had a loving family a good life, and enjoyed a spar every now and then but he never was exactly violent, he also refused to take any form of medication. But now...well he certainly proved to be violent, a little unstable and addicted to pain killers, and rather willing to fight for those drugs. Something has definitely gone wrong since the nine years he disappeared..." Sasuke sighed, "And I doubt he'd want to talk about it either..."

"Well, good luck." Gaara said. "By the way, Temari said she's probably going to come break up with you again today... Seriously, you two have to get your shit together. It's disturbing how often you break up and get back together..." Gaara handed Sasuke the keys to his car. "I'll probably get a ride from Kankuro tonight, so no need to stop by the store." He left the car and started his brief walk to the bookstore. He still had to open the place up.

Sasuke shook his head quietly as he put away his keys and moved out of the car and locked it up, "Perhaps it's time for a change than..." Sasuke said softly as he made haste to get into the hospital...

Inside the hospital was busy as always. There were no holiday seasons for hospitals. In fact, the holiday seasons for all other businesses generally meant things got busier. However, the minute he went in the door, there were two Emergency Room staff members that caught up to him and helped him lower Naruto onto a clean white gurney.

Since it was highly unlikely Naruto would wake, and the ER doctors were just as skilled as he was, and he would get in trouble with the HR department if he didn't punch in on time today--making up with Temari yesterday had caused him to be late, and breaking up with Temari the day before that had caused him to be late--he figured he would have to start his rounds. The ER doctors and nurses were quite capable of handling their jobs. However, he might want to warn them of Naruto's fear of needles... and of what he remembered of Naruto.

Nine years ago, Naruto would not go into a hospital even if it meant his life. Hospitals meant drugs, and Naruto couldn't stand drugs back then. He also would want to warn them of the five pain killers Naruto had already taken, and that Naruto appeared to be a drug addict, so tying him down was likely to be standard procedure. Gratefully, he knew one of the nurses in ER. Kayre was her name...

He wouldn't have to tell them the whole story... at least yet, anyway. He could probably get away with telling them Naruto's name, that he was addicted, and that he feared needles and hospitals without saying any more.

And of course that he'd taken the pills.

"Nurse Sakura."

The woman spoken to paused in her movements before taking Naruto away with the others, "Yes Uchiha-san?"

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki, he appears to be addicted to pain killers and fears needles and hospitals, he's also taken five pain killers. It might be wise to tie him down if you want to get anywhere with him; if he happens to wake up please inform me." He said with a sigh.

"Ah...yes of course Uchiha-san." She looked to the others making sure they got that before taking him away.

With that out of his way he made do to quickly punch in that he was there and on time.

Of course, luck wasn't on Sasuke's side that day. Temari caught up to him before he could even leave the ER. "Sasuke," she said, placing a hand on his arm to gentle him into stopping. She sent him a small smile and...And the clock ticked 8:00 AM. Sasuke was late for the third day in a row. He was definitely going to hear from HR about this.

Sasuke gave an inward groan, "Temari..." He placed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose, "This is the third time you've made me late in a row, are you trying to get me fired?"

Temari shook her head. "No. I just wanted to give you this." She handed him an envelope, upon which was written in her neat penmanship, "Sasuke Uchiha". "You can look at it later. I didn't mean to make you late today, that's why I wrote the letter. So... I'll see you around?" She didn't wait for a reply, but rushed out of the hospital immediately after. Gaara's warning came to mind. Temari probably decided to break things off with him through the written word this time.

It was almost romantic how many ways one could break up and make up. She was even inventing some ways, it seemed. So, he could either read it... most likely get himself riled up over whatever crude things it had to say... then go into the HR department later today and try to keep himself composed, or there was always a conveniently placed garbage around somewhere...

Sasuke however just tucked it into his pocket and went to HR knowing reading it then would probably be a bad idea... Really he couldn't wait to find out what crap she had to say now... All the while he was figuring out how to worm himself out of trouble this time...

The HR department was definitely out of the way of his rounds but a trip there was his just reward for arriving to work late three days in a row. The HR representative was a rather laid back character named Shikamaru Nara, who, although laid back, was very strict when he had to be, such as in cases of harassment or other serious issues. His office was a very nice one, placed against an outer wall on the second floor. He had a very large picture window that had a clear view of the sky.

When Sasuke came in, Shikamaru looked up from his desk. He was the same age as Sasuke, but definitely not to be looked down upon. "Ah, Doctor Uchiha, I presume? Did I send you a summons or something? Or is that nurse's fan-club still around. I thought I fired those involved in your sexual harassment case."

"Aw, no sir. I was just informing you I'm here and that I am sorry I am late again. An old high school friend appeared at my house at 2:42Am beaten badly. He should be in ER right now. But he might become a problem..." He frowned, "He seems to be rather unstable mentally, and addicted to pain killers, as well with a fear of needles. He's been missing for 9 years out of my life and he is definitely not his self...I was heading over to punch in but Temari stopped me and unfortunately caused my lateness..." He said with a heavy heart.

Shikamaru leaned back in his seat, attempting to hide an amused quirk of his lips behind folded hands. That smile reached his eyes, though, and was too large to be hidden. "Temari, you say? Well, as for that, I think if you work an extra minute today for each moment you were late today, it'll even out and I'll cut you a break. As far as this ER patient, you are one of our best doctors on staff. Do you have any recommendations to care for him? Does he have insurance?" Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't really know if Naruto had insurance...or really all that much about this new Naruto.

"I'm afraid I do not know...This...new Naruto is not the one I knew 9 years ago...He would never come to a hospital let alone touch drugs and was not particularly violent either for them. He may be very capable of hurting some one so it might be best if he's placed into my care..."

Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, a thoughtful look on his face. "Then make it happen, Doctor Uchiha. Have him placed in your care. Get a hold of his next-of-kin if he has any and see to it that they are notified of his whereabouts. I'm sure there must be something, maybe in his wallet to who you can contact. Oh, and Doctor, if you don't mind, I'll need you to take your lunch at 2:00 instead of 1:00 today." Shikamaru waved his hand as if to shoo the doctor away like Sasuke were a bothersome fly.

Sasuke gave a quick bow with a quick reply, "Yes Shikamaru." With that said he left the office to make his way back to the ER to inform Sakura of the situation and how Naruto would be placed within his care.

Sakura was speaking to another of the ER nurses, Ino. They were currently on break, mostly because they had been called in to work over-time, so they got to take break earlier. Ino asked Sakura, "That new patient? The beat up blond? Did you ever find out what happened to him? Looks like he was mauled by a semi!"

Sakura said, "I relaly don't know what happened to the guy. Doctor Uchiha brought him in this morning." She did not sound sympathetic. "But if you ask me, he probably deserved it. Doctor Uchiha said the guy's a drug addict. He probably got into a fight over some sort of drug. Or maybe he's a gang member, I don't know."

Sasuke happened to walk in then, "Sakura...Whether a patient brought into this hospital deserved or didn't' deserved what happened to them is not for us to say. This is a hospital I'd rather not hear such nonsense spoken about any patient." He sounded very displeased..."Where is the patient I brought in this morning?"

Sakura blushed at the rebuke. "Doctor Tsunade is putting a cast on his broken leg." A broken leg? And the guy was walking on it? "Nurse Umino is assisting her."

Sasuke frowned, "A broken leg?" He scowled, "The idiot walked to my house on a broken leg..." he sighed, "What room are they in?"

Sakura said, "He'll be put in room E120 when they finish. Did you want him somewhere else? I can run and tell Doctor Tsunade if you like."

"I've been given permission from Shikamaru to take Naruto Uzumaki into my care. When Tsunade finishes with his leg problem I would like him placed as close to me as possible, where he won't cause trouble. I'm the only person he knows here; we were friends in high school." He paused seeming in deep thought, "Hopefully I can find out what happened to him these past nice years since his disappearance... He isn't himself at all... The person I remember him to be would never touch drugs let alone step foot in a hospital. I have a lot of information I must find out about him..." He sighed, 'What the hell happened to you Naruto...?'

"I'll find a place for him on your rounds," Sakura assured him.

Sasuke nodded quietly, "Thank you Sakura." With that said he turned to leave the area to return to his own office...

On Sasuke's desk was a small box filled with Naruto's personal effects: the things he'd had on him when he arrived at the hospital. Inside the box there wasn't much. A ragged black tee-shirt, orange boxers, white-and-gray socks, a pair of black pants, and a worn pair of sneakers were his garments. Beneath that, in a see-through plastic bag was a hand full of slightly crumpled checks wrapped with a rubber band to keep them together. The checks were made out to "The Music Box", and for various amounts. One was for over six hundred dollars as the most dollar amount, and the lowest check amount was thirty-two dollars and fifty cents. Naruto had a bank deposit slip that had been torn in two, though someone had taped it together again.

The bank deposit slip showed over six thousand dollars in cash should be deposited, and over eight thousand dollars in checks. The cash was missing...probably went to drugs or something, though why would Naruto keep the checks? They would be useless to him, and what would have made him sink so low as to rob some place? The wallet in the bag was a simple fold, empty of any money, though there was a ragged picture of a curly haired red-head with green eyes. She looked to be about seventeen.

She was leaning on a tree wearing a European ball gown most likely made of silk as the material. It had a low-dip in the back, but a modest and high collar in front. Long opera gloves covered her bare arms, the same green as the dress. Her curly hair hung down to frame her face and gave her an almost angelic glow compared to her pale skin, but those fire red lips were twisted in just such a way to indicate mischief. If Sasuke took the picture out of the holder, he would see that on the back was written a phone number rather than a name... But who was this girl, and how would Naruto know her? She didn't look entirely Japanese... she looked like she could be French, and that dress was definitely European.

The phone number was a local number too...

Sasuke looked over the items quietly taking out the picture to exam closely. However he didn't find anything it could help him with so he set it face down, only then noticing the number on the back of it. Well that certainly perked his interest for the number was local and the picture of the woman certainly didn't look all that Japanese at all... "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to call it..." It was only logical to assume this woman knew Naruto, plus she might know something and could help him out... However rather then just right out calling an unknown number he grabbed a near by local phone book and went about his business in hunting the number to at least get a name for the face on the picture...

In his search, he found nothing, but that seemed no surprise. His phone book was three years old. But he did have that computer. If he did a search online for the number... he would bring up a name. Josephine Pierre. The name was definitely French, and the phone number was only activated three months ago...

Sasuke put the phone book aside with a sigh, "I really need to get a newer one..." He turned his attention to his computer with a frown.. He did NOT like using this thing; in fact he referred to it as one of Satan's many toys... In other words Sasuke never had great experiences with Computers... Who could when they always blew up in his face!? He cracked his knuckles,

"Ok Satan toy... You're going to work for me and not explode or start an unexplained fire again." Really, maybe Sasuke was losing his mind, he was talking to an inanimate object after all. Like a predator pouncing his prey Sasuke turned the beast on and quickly went to work on finding that damn number, he only paused for a moment to put on some safety gear on his face just incase it did go boom...

Thankfully someone seemed to be on his side that day and the computer did not explode in his face. It didn't take long for him to find a name to go with the number, "Josephine Pierre.. Definitely French. Well Josephine you're about to get a call from the hospital." He mused taking off the safety gear and quickly turning the computer off, before it decided to explode or something awful of the sort! Picking up his phone he dialed the number...

Much to his surprise, it was Naruto who picked up...or at least, Naruto's voice on a recorded message. "Hello, thanks for calling The Music Box," Naruto's voice on the machine said. "We are unable to answer the phone right now, but feel free to leave your name and number and we'll call you back as soon as possible. Please expect a 24 hour delay for returned calls. Our hours are Monday through Friday, one PM to four PM. Our address is 1450 Main Street. Feel free to stop in if you can't wait to talk to us." 

That address was just across the street from Gaara's Book & Cafe...

Sasuke was dead quiet for a long moment, before slowly hanging the phone up. 'The Music Box?' He thought quietly with a frown, 1450 Main Street... That's just across from Gaara's shop.' He sighed in frustration, "It's times like these I wish I was a bloody police officer." He groaned while scratching at the back of his head ruffling his hair a bit. 'I wonder if they finished taking care of Naruto's broken leg...'

Sakura chose that precise moment to step into Sasuke's office. "The patient is bandaged up now. He's still asleep though. I'm headed home for the night, or day as it is, but I've got Nurse Hinata keeping an eye on him. She'll page you if he wakes." Sakura left without waiting for a response. She was tired after a double shift.

Sasuke looked up, but Sakura was obviously gone. 'Well that's good..' He commented to himself, 'In that case...' He turned to his paper work, 'I'll work on these till then.'

Sasuke's phone rang...

Sasuke immediately answered the phone in a polite manner, "Doctor Uchiha speaking..."

"Doctor Uchiha," it was Shikamaru, "I'm calling to remind you of your adjusted lunch time. I wanted you to take it at two today. You didn't go already did you?"

"No I'm in my office doing paper work, so no I have not left. Shikamaru may I ask you something?" He mused thoughtfully.

"Go ahead." Shikamaru said. "Does the question involve clouds?"

Sasuke sweatdropped quietly, "No, Shikamaru, it doesn't. I was wondering if you heard of something called The Music Box... Apparently it's open Monday through Friday from 1pm to 4 pm..."

Shikamaru said, "It's just a new little place. The owners hand-make music boxes with original music pieces. No two of their music boxes are the same. Why?"

"Hmm... My patient had the number on the back of picture of a French woman named Josephine Pierre... The answering machine was my patient's voice... The shop happens to be located across from Gaara's so during lunch I think I will check into the place... I'm hoping to find someone who knows my patient who might know what's going on..."

"Take as long a lunch as you need to do that." Shikamaru said. "And while you're there, why don't you get your brother a music box. Even if he isn't talking anymore, he'll probably appreciate the gesture." Shikamaru did know about Itachi. After their family died in a fire during a family reunion...the whole family except the two boys died, Itachi stopped speaking. Eventually their foster parents simply admitted Itachi into a psyche ward.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, "Thank you, but I will try to be quick as possible, just incase my patient awakens I would insist on being called via cell phone if I am not here." 'Itachi...It's been a while since I last saw you hasn't it...' He thought quietly to himself... 'I guess I haven't been much of a good little brother then...' He sighed inwardly.

Shikamaru said, "If there are any changes, you'll be paged. Oh, and when you get to the shop, tell Alex the music box he picked out for my daughter is perfect. She absolutely loved the music box."

"I'll keep that in mind, Sasuke hummed, 'Thank you for your insight on the situation." he stated before saying goodbye and hanging up. He still had some time before lunch though so he went back to his paper work.

A bit of plastic poked out of Naruto's wallet... If Sasuke pulled it out, he would find an ATM card with the name Alexandre Pierre on it...Did Naruto mug this Alexandre Pierre guy? Alex was the name Shikamaru had said, so maybe Alexandre Pierre was the owner of The Music Box, and this wallet belonged to Alexandre who--by the look of the checks in the baggy--Naruto had mugged...

Sasuke frowned warily, and once again he was left with the question of, "What the hell have you been doing, Naruto," plaguing his thoughts. Diligently he placed the photo of the woman back in the wallet and then placed it in the baggy of checks. Why was it things were moving down hill the more things he found. Naruto was his friend, but to sink so low and possibly become some.. mugger seemed so out of place or him. He didn't want to believe Naruto could possibly do such a thing, least of all he didn't want to stick him in prison if it ended up being true... He had it in his right mind to call Shikamaru up again and state what he had found, but he seemed very reluctant in doing so... Maybe he should wait till visiting this Music Box and getting more answers before calling? After all when had called the voice on the machine was Naruto's so it didnt' quite add up at all!!

Perhaps waiting would be a good idea, because the numbers really weren't crunching. Something was definitely going on, and that something was wrong. Whatever that something was... But it was 2 PM and he had a lunch to go to. Perhaps he could talk to Gaara first before going to the music box? After all, Gaara was right across the street, so maybe he knew something about the place that Sasuke didn't?

Sasuke glanced at the clock noticing it was time for lunch and grabbed that baggy of checks with the wallet in it and made way to leave the area. Being that Gaara's shop wasn't far obviously he walked there, but he moved in more of a speed walk then a casual one. He wanted her questions asked fast as possible clearly!!!

_--Gaara's Book & Cafe-- _

Else where...a new comer to the town, who had recently moved to be here, was currently wrapped up in a jacket and hood outside a certain bookstore with a small frown on her face. She checked her watch warily then the sign stating when it was open. 'It should be open by now..' She thought with a huff, tapping her watch idoly, 'Maybe it's broken...' A cold gust of winter wind blew around her making her tighten her clothing to her frame for warmth, her teeth chattering. 'Coffee's looking good about now...' She thought numbly...

Gaara was nearly whistling as he rounded the corner to get to his bookstore. It was a lovely day, he swore it. It was winter time, of course, so it was chilly, but at least his store would be warm. Usually he was at his shop by now, but honestly, who cared about that? He was the owner. He could do whatever he wanted. So he had a sign that stated he would open up the book part of the store on Wednesdays at 8:30 AM, big freaking deal! Kankuro was always there at 6 AM to open up the coffee shop part of the store so anyone wanting a warm cup of coffee or cocoa or whatever suited them would be able to go in.

At least, that's what he thought anyway. Of course, as he came into sight of his bookstore, he saw a shivering woman in front of his bookstore, reading the Hours sign and checking her watch. "Great. Kankuro, you're fired," he muttered under his breath. He approached the woman warily... women were to be treated with extreme caution...he knew how Temari was, and at least 1 week out of a month, all women were like Temari. Hopefully this was not this woman's one week.

"If you let me at the door, I'll open it up," Gaara told her in his monotone voice. Kankuro often said he sounded really cold when he spoke to people he didn't know, but Gaara couldn't help it. He was just being cautious.

Kayre jumped a little at the abrupt voice of stranger; immediately she looked up to catch the face of the owner she assumed seeing how he did say he would open it. Her face was mostly hidden though n the hood of her jacket so he couldn't see her eyes at all except her jaw and a pair of plump lips. A frown creased on those lips, before speaking,

"Your co-worker must be late for the coffee shop, I assume?" She chose her words carefully, she was only assuming this man was the owner, there was a fifty chance he wasn't obviously and could be the late worker though.

"My _ex_ employee is late, yes." Gaara stated. He took his keys from his pocket and unlocked the...six...locks on the door, one key for each lock. Wow, was this guy cautious or what? Well, either overly cautious or extremely paranoid. Either worked. He opened the door and an alarm system went off, a minor beeping noise. He walked over to a panel and, hiding his finger movements, pushed in the code to reset the alarm. Once she was inside, he closed the door and locked one of the locks, keeping the sign at 'closed'. He basically ignored her and walked into the cafe part of the shop.

He grabbed the phone off the wall and dialed a number. There was a pause as he put the phone to his ear. After a minute, he said, "You're fired, Kankuro." Then he hung up, dialed another series of numbers, and waited a moment. Then he said, "Temari, come into work immediately or you're fired." Then he hung up and went into the kitchen...

Kayre watched him quietly, 'Not very friendly is he... I hope everyone else in this town isn't like him..' She sighed to her self, while removing her hood from her head.

"Sounds like good help is hard to find.." She mused more so to herself then to him as she walked off into one of the book sections. Dark navy blue hair streaming out from her jacket behind her while gleaming orange eyes scanned over things.

Gaara approached the woman with a mug of steaming something-or-other in his hands. He offered it to her. "Here," he said in that same cold voice. "It's the only thing you can have until Temari comes, simply because I cannot make anything else." He frowned and looked at the particular selection she was glancing at, only his eyes were for the shelves.

"Dust," he said in disgust. "I may as well fire Kakashi as well, since he clearly doesn't do his job." He didn't go to the phone immediately however. "Yes, good help is hard to find," he told her. He took a cloth from his pocket and wiped with it. Since he'd left her before, he'd taken his jacket off, revealing a neat white polo and black slacks. The polo was embroidered with the words, "Gaara's Book & Cafe". "Can you cook?" he asked her suddenly.

The drink he'd put in her hands tasted... like nail polish remover mixed with apple cider...

Gaara added as an afterthought, "I won't charge you for the drink either, since it's probably not what you wanted. You simply looked like you could use something to warm up." He sounded like a snowman, but the offer was nice...

Kayre looked down at the mug quietly and crinkled up her nose just at the smell before offering it back to him, "I'd rather not drink that.. The offer is nice, but it smells like it could kill." She stated bluntly. At least she was honest... "I can see why you don't cook. As for your question.. I live alone; being able to cook for ones self is needed in my standards. Your not thinking about hiring a complete stranger are you?" Now she was clearly teasing him! What a strange woman...Plus he certainly never saw her around here before... She looked...new to this town in fact.

Gaara looked her up and down, as if gauging her very soul from the brief once-over. "What's your name?" he asked her, sniffing the drink cautiously and then staring at it as if he'd never seen anything like it before. 'I just heated up some apple cider.' he thought. 'How did I screw THAT one up?'

"My name is Kayre. I've just moved into town here." She said politely, "And you must be Gaara, yes? The owner?" She seemed to toy with his name on her lips before decidedly like the way it sounded. "Though I doubt I will stay here very long either..." There seemed to be a hint of sadness in her voice but she covered that up rather quickly. "I owned a business like this back where I came from, unfortunately my co-workers weren't very reliable and one day one of the idiots burnt down the store." She frowned, "How someone can ever do that I will never know..."

Gaara opened his mouth to speak when the lock in the door turned and a woman came in with a dangerous glare on her face. "Gaara," she called, spotting him immediately. "I just got a call from Kankuro!"

"And?" Gaara asked carelessly.

"AND HE SAID YOU FIRED HIM!"

"And?" Gaara questioned again. "He didn't show up for work. I have a zero-tolerance policy for tardiness. I do not care if he is my brother."

"YOU GAVE HIM THE DAY OFF, MORON!" the woman yelled. "CALL HIM AND HIRE HIM AGAIN BEFORE HE GOES SUICIDAL AGAIN!"

Gaara paled. "Oh..." he walked over to the phone and dialed up a series of numbers. The woman huffed as Gaara did this. "Kankuro, there's been a mistake. You're not fired. I will fire you if you kill yourself, however. Stay alive if you wish to keep your job." Gaara hung up then and turned to the woman. "Temari, you're fired." he said.

She glared at him. "On what grounds?" she asked him. "I don't work until noon anyway!"

"I have a zero-tolerance policy for yelling at the supervisor-slash-owner of my business, which is me, and which you have done. Please leave the premises." He turned to the phone and dialed a series of numbers. A moment of pause and much clenching of Temari's fists later, he said, "Kiba Inozuka, right?... Good, this is Gaara from Gaara's Book & Cafe. You submitted an application recently. Are you still looking for work?... Great. If you can come in before 9:00, you're hired." The clock read 8:52... Gaara hung up. He looked at Temari and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Gaara, if you fire me, I'm going to post pictures of your seven-year-old birthday party all around town." Gaara paled at the threat. "That's right... the ballerina named Gaara." Ooh, she was cold.

Gaara forced a smile, but his eye was twitching. "I'm suddenly in dire need of staff... Temari, are you in need of a job?"

Temari smiled at him. "Why, yes, thank you, Gaara. I am. I'll show up for work at noon, as usual, little brother. Ta." She took off out the front door, jangling her keys. Gaara's eye was twitching.

Kayre quirked an eyebrow curiously, "For an owner you seem to be forgetful on who you've given the day off..." She grabbed a random book off a shelf dusting it off a little, "Not to mention family issues... A suicidal brother and an overly angry sister who'll use photo's to black mail you form firing..." She crinkled up her nose a little, "Charmed I'm sure.." She said in a dull dry tone, as she opened the book up and scanned it's condition over seemingly more so then reading it, "Why don't you just burn this photo she speaks of, than she can't use it against you." She looked up at him questioningly from the book.

"She's a photographer. That's probably not the worst picture she has of me--or anyone else for that matter. Born evil, her. But no matter." He looked at his watch. "Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three..." A man burst into the shop breathing heavily, his brown hair screwed up badly obviously from racing across a great distance in a short period of time. "I... I'm... here," he said.

"Good," Gaara said. "Kitchen's in the back. Today's customers will let me know if you should be fired tomorrow, but don't feel any pressure. I don't have anyone here to train you on the kitchen, so you'll just have to figure out where things are yourself. I'll give you ten minutes to poke about before opening the front door. Get to it, Kiba." Gaara jutted his head toward the kitchen door and the man gulped before quickly disappearing. Gaara rolled his head on his shoulders.

"One cannot pick their family. Anyway, feel free to be Kiba's first customer. I'll give you a free meal coupon if you think he should be fired." Gaara went back into the many rows of books, disappearing amongst them with a cloth in hand, dusting the shelves off... Was she going to find him to ask about that off-hand comment of a job offer, or was she going to be Kiba's first customer? Then again, maybe she had other places to go to... she was new to the neighborhood after all, and might want to check out some of the other shops.

Kayre quirked an eyebrow after the red headed man before shifting to the cafe area, waiting for the man named Kiba to appear out front again. 'Seems rather harsh to fire him if no one is here to train him though...' She mused to herself, 'He did run all the way here it seems in the nick of time... As far as I'm concerned he seems reliable so far...' She was thinking like an owner again and she silently berated herself for such thoughts in a store that she obviously didn't run.

Kiba poked his head through the kitchen window, saw her, and hurried out. He gave her a cheesy grin that was obviously a cover-up for his nerves. However, despite that, he was ready. He said, "Can I get you something to eat? Perhaps a cup of coffee?" He handed her a menu... "Names Kiba by the way." He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Put in a good word for me, will ya? This place is the hottest spot in town to work as a cook, and I've been trying to get this job for two years now."

Kayre raised a thin eyebrow towards him, "We'll see about that Kiba... I'll say one thing though... your easy on the eyes I'll give you that.." She winked with a tease before opening her menu in a low hum. Moments later though she pointed out what had to be one of the most complicated hot drinks to possibly be made!!! She wasn't going easy on him, but who said she wouldn't correct him if he moved to grab the wrong thing...?

Kayre happened to have been an owner of a restaurant, and was the top chief. She was extremely strict i na manner like Gaara was when it came to cooking, if the co-worker couldn't do it right they were out of there... Frankly her co-workers were good at what they did but, unfortunately, not always reliable. The one day she's not there though the place ends up in smoke literally; who knew things could go so bad... Kayre however was not well known by her first name mainly referred to by last name which was so well known, in a way she was famous. She moved though to a new town in hopes of not being known much here, so far things seemed to be going well. Her first name may not be well known, but her face should be recognizable, and as far as she was concerned no one recognized her thankfully...

Kiba had, in fact, recognized her. Not for her fame, but it did come to him that she had the same face and teasing personality as his chef-partner in cooking school. He didn't say anything though and immediately went to make the drink. As he set it in front of her, he grinned. "I'll make a wager with you," he told her. He pulled four quarters from his pocket, setting each on the counter in a line. "If you find one thing wrong with me, you push forward one quarter. If you push forward all four quarters, I'll quit cooking for the rest of my life." He knew he was an excellent chef. The problem? Finding cooking work in their town was damn near impossible. Everyone wanted to be a chef. Gaara's Book & Cafe was the place where top chefs came to sample the local dishes. Anyone who wanted to be someone could easily get their start at Gaara's.

The quarter thing was something Kiba did with everyone... and he had a knack for winning.

Kayre blinked at the quarters set before her, and it was only then did she seem to recognize him, "You're still using that trick Kiba?" She mused out loud, before smiling, "Tsk put that away, you know I wouldn't want you to quit cooking." She smiled.

He grinned at her. "Kayre Rossaeu, was it? I always butchered your last name, didn't I?" He chuckled. "I think you're just afraid to lose. I always win the wagers I play. You should remember that." Yes, he was known as the Gambling Cook.

Kayre laughed quietly, "It was Rousseau," She corrected, "However I've married and been divorced so that is no longer my last name." She smirked a little, "I never could forget that, Kiba. But lets see if you remember how I like my drink made, if not I'm afraid all four of those quarters will be moved forward." She crooned.

He leaned on the counter, a smirk firmly in place. "I remember you liked it with a spike of alcohol, Kayre. Everything else is perfect, I already know, but I doubt Gaara'd like if I started spiking drinks. So who'd you marry and what's your new last name?"

Kayre looked thoughtful, "I stopped drinking a long time ago, so you're lucky." She took a sip slowly looking thoughtful, "A little on the sweet side..." She mused before grinning, "Just the way I like it. Only you could ever get my drink right, you know that Kiba?" She laughed, "As for my new last name..." She spoke warily, "I'd rather not say...I'll put it in a different way for you though. Do you recall te restaurant that burnt down not long ago in a few towns away?"

"Yeah, I do. It was on top of the news headlines for days. Le Blanc's...holy shit, Kayre.. You married Marquis Le Blanc?!" Marquis Le Blanc was a hot shot lawyer who'd made a mint... then lost most of it in the divorce, leaving his chef-wife with plenty of cash.

Kayre quickly covered his mouth, "Hush!!" She hissed, "Yes that was my restaurant that burnt down because of unreliable co-workers..." She removed his hand with a scowl, "I'm not there one day and the place burns down, someone hates me up there." She chuckled bitterly, before sighing, "If I had you I'm sure that wouldn't have happened..." She grumbled lowly, before sipping her drink again, "I don't want you referring to me with my last name, you understand? I need a break from that so I moved here in hopes no one would recognize me... So keep quiet about it." She siad pointedly.

"Okay, okay," Kiba chuckled. "So are you hungry?" He glanced at the clock. "Wow... it's two already and Gaara hasn't come to unlock the door yet. I wonder what's up..."

Kayre looked at the clock then outside the cafe windows, "Maybe he got lost dusting the shelves..." She joked softly.

Kiba shrugged. "Well, this place is big..."

Gaara came wandering out of the book shelves...reading... He glanced up and around briefly. "Huh," he mused, "so you're such a bad cook you can't even pay the customers to give you a good review." He chuckled.

Kayre quirked an eyebrow, "You misinterpreted the situation. The quarters are use as a wager i na little gambling game Kiba likes to play. If he does poorly you move a quarter forward if all quarters are pushed forward he'll give up being a cook." She said in his defense, "I haven't touched any of the quarters. In other words I insure you Kiba is a keeper, Gaara." She said smoothly with a smile.

She turned her attention back to Kiba, "As for that meal, you remember what I like, hmm?" She smiled.

"He hasn't even cooked anything." Gaara said. "But since you said you owned a restaurant, I take it you're a cook of some sort so you know. Kiba, you're hired on a probational basis. If you come to work with even so much as a crease in your clothes, I will fire you. And it's legal since I told you I would and you obviously are going to agree to the terms. And comb your hair in the morning from now on..." Gaara looked at the clock. It was past noon. He frowned, walked around the counter, dialed a series of numbers on the phone, and waited. Then he said, "Temari, you're fired." He hung up immediately.

Kiba looked ecstatic. "H-hired? I got the job?" he asked.

Gaara glared at him coldly. "That is what I said, but it is probational." He glanced at a calendar and took a pen out of his breast pocket, clicking it. He wrote Kiba's name on the calendar on various days of the month, all at seemingly random times. "This is the work schedule for part-timers. That's you, Kakashi, Iruka, and Konohamaru. Kakashi, Iruka, and Konohamaru work in the book store part. Konohamaru is a high school student, so he can only work evenings and if you're working with him, watch him. He'll try to sneak into the winery," Gaara pointed to a door to the left of the women's bathroom. It had a lock on it.

Gaara took his key ring out of his pocket. He took seven keys off it, handing them to Kiba. "These are the keys to the store," he said, indicating the first six. The smallest, seventh one, he said, "That's the winery key. Anyone wants wine, you have to go into the cellar for it. Don't ever forget to lock the winery up after going in it or you'll be fired, and don't let these keys out of your sight. They are more valuable than your life. If Temari or Kankuro...scratch that, Temari's fired, so just Kankuro then, and if he doesn't like you, you're fired. Speak with Kankuro in the morning about uniforms. The cost for the uniforms is deducted from your paychecks. White shirts stay white, or you're fired. All chef's names are embroidered on the shirts, so the personalized chef jacket won't come for three weeks after Kankuro says you're good for our business. Kankuro will cover your orientation tomorrow morning at five o'clock AM. Be here, or be fired. Your choice. No arguing with me, no yelling at me, and watch what you say around Temari--actually she's still fired so don't worry about it--and Kankuro. If you want a day off, speak with Kankuro or Tema...Kankuro. The book store doesn't open until 8:30 AM. Don't ask for full-time work, you won't get it. Myself, Kankuro, and Temar...and Kankuro are the only full-time workers. Got it?"

Kiba blinked, then nodded. "I think so." he took the keys, putting them immediately on his key ring.

"Kankuro will give you the current password for the alarm. It is changed every so often, so only come in here if you're meant to be here, or you're fired and I will sue you. Any questions?" Gaara asked.

Kiba shook his head. He had no questions. Gaara said,"Then get to work. I think she wanted food. Make it." Gaara glanced at the door and blinked. "Oh, I didn't even unlock the door yet. Hm." he walked over and unlocked the final lock, turning the sign over to say "open". "Slow day, I guess," Gaara muttered, and disappeared in the books again.

Kayre quirked an eyebrow quietly, "He's a little high strung isn't he..." She murmured lowly while sipping her drink. "I doubt this Temari will be fired for long though... She'll probably come in here any moment threatening to black mail him with photos of himself doing something ridiculous and he'll hire her again..." She shook her head quietly.

Kiba wanted to laugh, he really did, but he wondered if 'laughing at his employer' would get him fired. He was sure he'd have a novel of things that would get him fired before too long. "Anyway, I'll go make your dish." Kiba winked at her and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kayre watched him disappear into the kitchen quietly before getting up to move over to the book cases. She left her jacket in her seat so he would at least know she was still there when he was done. She glanced over the books, before frowning. Apparently someone didn't take care of them well enough or random customers never put the books back where they belonged. Some of the books were rather disorganized!! Now that just would not do in her "book"!! More so out of bad habit, seeing how back in her restaurant she had organized her spices in the same mannerism as books, she started to gather the misplaced books from there slots and began to shuffle about to place them where they belonged.

Gaara encountered her and put the books back where they were. "That's why you're not going to be hired for the book store. There's order to this madness, believe it or not." he told her.

Kayre quirked an eyebrow at him, "I find chaos hard to be remotely organized. A normal book store organizes by authors last names to make it easier for customers to find what they are looking for." She moved a finger along the bottom shelf where some books were sitting only to pull it back and look at the dust caked on it. Without asking she grabbed what he had been using to clean them off from him to wipe her hand clean, "If I recall the hospital is not far from here.. You must get doctors during lunch break... I doubt such unsanitary conditions like these seem fitting for them..." She swiped the area clean with it to hold it up at him with the rag, or whatever he uses, dying in dust!! As if to prove her point she grabbed a random book and moved the object lightly across the cover to remove dust caked there as well...

"It looks to me as if someones neglecting there job." She returned the book where she found it before tucking the cleaning object back into his front pocket where it had been hanging from.

Gaara took the cloth and began wiping the shelves clean. "Kakashi is supposed to help me with the cleaning of the bookstore. And yes, this all makes perfect sense." He pointed to a sign nearby. These signs seemed to be posted all over the book area. _If I don't have the book you're looking for, I'll pay for it and ship it to you for free. Just tell me what book you want! - Gaara_ They were all signed by Gaara. Aww, how cute, he put a heart behind the last 'a' in his name. "I have everything sectioned according to inventory date, so I can find it easier when people come looking."

Kayre hummed lowly an amused smile on her lips for God knows what.. Maybe it was the hearts after the last 'a' in his name on the signs... "In that case I suppose it would make sense if it's the section of ordered books by requested customers. But what about your actual books where are they put?" She inquired.

"No, this is the way the entire store is organized. I organize all my inventory by inventory date. I have assistance catalogues two rows over. Customers type the name or the author or what have they and they can see if we have it. If they can't figure out how to use the incredibly simple catalogue, I or one of my minion-workers assist them." Gaara glanced over the books, grabbed one at seemingly random, and pointed to a numbered sticker on the spine. "This indicates the section number. See?" he pointed to the floor where there was a letter of the alphabet painted. "And that's the section letter. They're organized by this number and that letter instead of author or title."

"What if a customer isn't looking for anything in particular? Say a customer is simply looking for books for children and going off what they know they are interested in? How do you help such a customer?" Kayre questioned simply.

Gaara shrugged. "That's easy. I hate children so I don't want them in sight. The have to go to the second floor for their books. They're so... so NOISY... damn brats..." he grumbled. "I don't know how people can stand the little buggers." the front door dinged. "Excuse me," he walked out of the books to see who had come in. It was Sasuke. He became distinctly warmer--although somehow still sounded monotone!--toward the guy than he was with Kayre or anyone else. "Did Temari come see you?" he asked, somewhat grinning.

Sasuke frowned a little, "Yes, she gave me a letter which I've yet to read.. She also made me late again, but that's not why I came here." He said quickly dropping the subject, "I need you to tell me whatever information you possibly know of the store across the street called The Music Box. Anything would be extremely crucial right about now.." He sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and indexfinger. In his other hand was the baggy of checks as well as the wallet; not that Gaara would know that...

'Well at least he seems to be somewhat friendly to this man...' Kayre mused with a frown as she walked out of the area they were currently talking to.. She kept the second floor in mind while she was at it too before sitting back down. She also kept in mind he seemed to hate kids and made a mental note to bring hers here just to possibly annoy him maybe...?? But than again her kids were mostly young teens and better behaved beign raised by someone like her and there "dad" the lawyer...Not that he was much of a father to them... Really she was the only one who cared for them thus they were handed over to her during the divorce seeing how he wouldn't take care of them at all.

Sasuke happened to look away from Gaara noticing the woman coming from the area he had seen Gaara appear from. Something in he back of his mind was nagging at him, her face seemed very familiar, but the name was at a loss to him... However she wasn't his main priority right now, he'd find out later most likely...

"Kiba-kun, what's taking so long, hmm?" She teased over the counter, "Still figuring out the kitchen back there?"

"Well, you won't have to worry about Temari at least. She didn't show up so I fired her." Gaara nodded as if his decision was the only course of action. Then again, Sasuke knew that Gaara fired and hired Temari as often as Tamari and Sasuke broke up and got back together. Gaara saw the bag in Sasuke's hands and was curious as to what was in it. "What's that?" he asked. "And why do you want to know about The Music Box?"

Meanwhile, Kiba was coming out of the kitchen with something that smelled absolutely splendiferous! He walked over to Kayre and set it in front of her with a clearly frustrated look on his face. "Do you know they don't even have chives?" he whispered too low for Gaara to hear. Chives always went in her favorite dish. "I had to sneak out the back and race down the street to the market just to get the chives!" Kiba sighed and leaned on the counter, his eyes glancing at the newcomer speaking to Gaara. "Who's that guy?" he asked quietly, hoping she might have overheard. Kiba hadn't pegged Gaara to be friendly toward anyone.

* * *

RSG and I would like to extend our thanks to you for reading this story. If you have comments, please leave us a review.

We already know:

... the characters are mostly OOC  
... only a few characters actually act a little like themselves  
... this story does not follow the Canon Naruto storyline  
... many things that happen in this story are ridiculous  
... many things in this story are entirely impossible  
... some of the words used do not exist in any dictionary known to man  
... the story is somewhat erratic with the scene switches

Please do not comment on the above stated. We're just having a little fun and at my suggestion, RSG and I have decided to post the story.


	2. Chapter 2

WE HAVE FOUND THAT WE MAY OR MAY NOT USE VERY WEIRD THINGS LIKE BLUE HAIR, BUT WILL STILL NOT INVOLVE CHAKRA-NESS OR MAGICAL AWESOMENESS.

And as such things do happen in the real world, we don't own Naruto.

A joint piece of work done by Rin Sessys Girl and Tsubasa Kya

* * *

**Not Always Normal**

Chapter two

_-Gaara's Book & Café- _

"These," Sasuke motioned with his hand, "Are a few things that were found on my patient..." Sasuke said simply, "A baggy of checks and what I originally thought was his wallet... The photo i the wallet lead me to The Music Box with a number on the back...than an ATM card fell out with the name Alexander Pierre..." He sighed in frustration, "But none of it is adding up. I called the number and the voice on the answering machine was my patients. The thought of him mugging this person isn't adding up. I shall be heading over in hopes of more answers to find out what the bloody hell is going on. I thought you might know the place a bit..."

Kayre shrugged murmuring lowly, "Seeing how he used the word 'patient' I'd say doctor Kiba-kun." She grabbed her fork and took a bite of her food with a low purr, well, more like she was orgasming in her seat...But you know we don't need to know that. :D XD She leaned forward on her elbows, "Moving along.. What have you been doing all this time Kiba? Found a special someone yet?" She smirked a little as she took another bite of her delicious food...

Unknowing even seeming to Sasuke himself, his attention had gone to the purring or was it moaning woman. His expression completely blank as if in too much surprise to make one.

Gaara held his hand out for the bag and Sasuke--of course trusting his friend--handed it over. Peering inside, Gaara pulled the wallet out, fully intent on looking at the photo. Upon sight of the photo, he actually was startled enough to drop the wallet. His cheeks turned as red as his hair almost as though the photo was of a naked woman and he wasn't used to that, even if the woman was fully clothed in the green European ball gown. He quickly bent to grab the wallet. "Where... the hell did you find this, again?" he asked, his voice having more emotion than even Sasuke had ever heard. He knew something. He looked at the picture again and his cheeks turned redder still. If it got any worse, he might even look like he was choking. Good thing Sasuke was a doctor!

Kiba glanced at Kayre with a smirk. "Do you still deny the superiority of my cooking? I could make any woman in the _world_ hot and bothered with just a bite of my food. I'm telling you, superior." He crossed his arms over his chest, wondering why no one was in the place except the four of them. no customers meant no money! Ah well, he got to catch up with Kayre anyway. "But no. I'm still single, and still loving it. But there's this spatula named Claire? I think she's got the hots for me." He grinned for her to share in his joke. "So... Madam Chef, how are those kids? I heard you got the kids in the divorce."

Sasuke turned his attention to Gaara quietly noting the red blush that seemed so very out of place on the mans face, "From your hysterical blushing I'm guessing you know the woman. I said this was found on my patient, I suggest you start spilling the beans..." He inquired.

Kayre made a face, "Don't call me Madam, it makes me feel...old..." She pouted, "And tell your spatula Claire she doesn't have a chance, not even in hell with you. "She snickered lowly, "MY kids are doing fine," She emphasized the word MY as she spoke, "I'm the one that wanted kids n the relationship, he was never home though for us to have "real" ones. So I adopted..." She shrugged, "He wasn't much of a father figure to them though; in fact I don't think he really cared for them at all. They never referred to him as dad and they weren't upset about the divorce either." She took another bite and swallowed, followed by a swig of her drink. "They're in school right now but" She glanced at her watch, "They'll be getting out soon and I'll need to pick them up..." Se smirked, "I'll bring them back here; I'm sure they'll love you..." She chuckled, "And they'll be hungry too, seeing how they can't go to mom's restaurant anymore they'll feel right at home here."

Gaara sighed. "She's someone I knew from that private school my uncle sent me, Kankuro, and Temari to in France. Her name was Sachiko and she was labeled as the best student for miles around. I... kind of had this.. er... yeah, I liked her. A lot. The school was more directed toward the fine arts, cooking, literacy, music, dancing, that sort of stuff. _She_ was just...amazing, and perfect...and by fifteen, she'd put out so many musical scores to the publishers, and even had a contract with a music recording company to put her music on CD. People paid thousands just to watch her play the piano, and then, senior year... seven years ago, she just disappeared. Vanished. It was as if she never existed in the first place. At first, there was a fuss. Her family was gone, the mansion she lived in was completely empty and looked like no one ever lived there. But this, here, is proof she existed! People forgot about her, stopped playing all those songs that she wrote and had published. Said it was bad luck to play the music of someone missing. Might _offend_ somebody. So since no one wanted her music, the record company decided to not go forward on the music recording deal, and her already recorded CD was never released to the public." He sighed. "I really liked her." He sounded so... sad. So, unlike him.

"But that's definitely Sachiko. I've never forgotten her face. I remember the day she disappeared too. I'd purchased tickets to one of her concerts and she heard me talking to Temari and Kankuro about it. She wanted to know _why_ I would want to listen to her play. Kankuro was a pianist too, and could buy her books of music and play them for me for far cheaper than the ticket cost. I told her the real thing is always better, and she asked if I would like a private concert, just me and Temari, and Kankuro, and her. And of course our paid body guards, since this was a private school for the rich. I was very happy, and she told me to go to her house after school; she'd play for me there in her parlor. I went, and... everything was gone. She never showed up."

"As far as my knowledge goes of my neighbors across the street, though... I don't know much except they sell music boxes. I can't stand music anymore..." Three guesses why? "That's why I don't have music playing in here ever. I've never met the owners of the place; they seemed to just show up one day, and only people I ever see going in or out of that door are customers. They do order lunch from here once or twice a week, and someone from here delivers it, but I never have gone. My employees say that the money for the food is always just laid on the counter, but they've never seen the owners or the workers from the Music Box. Still, we do have names. Alex and Josephine Pierre. Sort of French sounding. More reason for me to dislike them." Poor Gaara... He must've been traumatized when his childhood love didn't show up. And from the sounds of it, he paid for an expensive ticket he never even got to use.

"If Claire doesn't have a chance, do you?" Kiba asked, grinning cheekily. "I'm open for a Friday night date at the Fun House Pizza Parlor if you and your kids want something fun to do." And then Gaara did his sob story... "Wow," Kiba said in a breathed whisper to Kayre. "Maybe that's why the guy's so cold?"

"I hate the French," Gaara stated, once more in his cold monotone. He handed back the bag to Sasuke.

Kiba said, "Ooky, never mind. I think he was born mean."

Sasuke listened quietly to the duration of the whole ordeal, before speaking again and removing the picture from the frame to flip it over and point to the number on the back. "The number on the photo is The Music Box across your store.. I looked it up before calling and it was under the name Josephine Pierre... As far as I'm concerned this Sachiko you speak of has been across from our store for who knows how long under the name Josephine Pierre.. For all you know it's true since you've never see the peoples faces. And seeing how Naruto's voice was on the answering machine I could even assume this Alexander Pierre is really Naruto, my patient. In fact..." He pulled out his cell, after putting the photo back. "Shikamaru asked me to thank this Alex person which I could only assume he's been in there and has seen his face..." He explained while dialing Shikamaru's office number. He had intentions on finding that out right now.

Kayre was quiet, this hall talk of a woman Sachiko was, well, was bothering her.. That name seemed familiar to her. She choose to push it aside though to flash Kiba a grin, "Oh? Kiba-kun ae you hitting on a recently divorced woman?" Now that she thought about it... Gaara was suddenly familiar to her too, and the puzzle pieces were fitting inside her head. She had gone to that private school with him!!! But she changed so drastically since than. She was no longer the frail weak looking girl, who had been adopted into a rich French family... He wouldn't recognize her at all from how well she grew into her curves. She was now quite clearly a falumpsious sexy woman.

At the time of being in that school she had played the violin, she could play anything on that one instrument, she could also play a bit on the harp too. Clearly though her choice in career had drastically changed and she had dropped music all together. Sachiko had been a close friend to the girl, or at least someone who encouraged her into what she did, but with her disappearance, that flame had died too.. And born from it was her need to be a cook, a brilliant cook, and clearly that all came true until the burning of her new love and dream brought to the ground...

And since she could recognize Gaara now, she could probably remember how he was kind of like a stalker toward Sachiko...Did she ever blame Gaara for her friend's disappearance? Did she ever think Gaara 'liking Sachiko a lot' made Sachiko so uncomfortable her family decided to move across the globe somewhere onto a remote island?

Shikamaru answered his phone. "Mercy Hospital Human Resources, Shikamaru Nara speaking."

Kiba laughed. "Naw," he said. "I'm hitting on an _obviously_ single woman. So how about it?"

Kayre did give that option a thought, but he did say she had invited him a private audition, but she wasn't there so it couldn't possibly be his fault for her sudden disappearance. Or perhaps it was because she had found an odd attraction to him than, but was clearly foreshadowed by his extreme crush for her friend... Even now he was still that attractive person, but... he has become much colder than before... And than of course there was Kiba and being his cooking partner she crushed over him too... But he never seemed that interested in her, and now he was asking her on a date so abruptly? Really old emotions were fluttering about her poor heart She gave him one of her few dashing smiles, "I'm sure the kids would love it. Oh and far warning... My oldest is my son he's 16 but, " She motioned her hand behind her pointing exactly at Gaara without looking with her thumb, "He's a bit like Gaara.. He can be cold towards people he doesn't know, but he'll get use to you and open up." Course he certainly wasn't that way with his mom though, he loved his mom very much!! He was like a completely different person when it came to his mom and very protective of her too. In fact he had even lashed out at his own so called "dad" when he had walked in upon seeing him hit his dear old mom during an argument...

"He's an amazing boy," She smiled putting her hand down, "He has an odd trait to him being an unbelievable photographic memory. His sister is only 13 but she's quite the happy camper." She chuckled softly, " She'll certainly become a leech and very attached to you I'm sure. I wouldn't be surprised if she started calling you dad out of hte blue.." She shook her head in amusement before eating more of her food finishing it up followed with her drink.

"Shikamaru it's Uchiha. About Alexander Pierre... did you ever see him in person?" He questioned.

"Yes, did you meet him? He's a pleasant guy, always smiling and wanting to help people. I went there four days ago to get the music box and even though he was just about to leave, he stopped to help me. Really pleasant sort." Shikamaru said.

Kiba shrugged. "Hey, don't fret, love," he was already back into using his pet name for her?! "I'm like... a kid magnet." He made a weird face. "I think that's because I worked in a candy store for the past two years. Gained a bit of weight for a while. I was all...plump." He grinned a cheesy grin. "I was blueberry shaped. He he he..."

"No I haven't met him yet, but I'm, running on an assumption that only you can clear up for me." He had an amused look in his eyes as he looked at Gaara, having heard the woman's conversation. "Can you describe the way Alex looked like for me?"

Kayre laughed, "You? Plump? Even remotely showing a sign of fat? Where was I when this was happening?! The thought of you heavy set from weight just isn't working at all for me! You were never fat when I was with you." She laughed further.

Gaara glanced at the woman. She likes kids, he thought. He would have never pegged her for it. At least they were older; young children had the tendency to make music and music reminded him of Sachiko, so he couldn't bear them. Older kids didn't normally break out into song at random times. Gaara couldn't even bear _humming_ much less singing. Sachiko sang while she played piano. Damn, Sasuke. He had to bring this all back. He had almost forgotten... He even was dating now, mostly at Temari's blackmailed-insistence but he was. His girlfriend was Ten-Ten, ironically enough, a musician who had a young daughter with her ex-boyfriend Neiji.

And the damn little girl liked Gaara.

Kids in GENERAL liked Gaara.

He was doomed. That's really all there was to it.

Kiba laughed. "Yeah, but that's mostly because for the first two years of our partnership, you kept me running around the kitchen with a fire extinguisher! Damn, if I didn't start tutoring you separately from school, you'd have failed."

Shikamaru said, "He was French. Why don't you just go meet him? Hmm? I have to go. Apparently there's a dispute between Tsunade and her desk, and I have to separate them before either does damage to the other."

Kayre laughed and mimicked flailing her hands about in fright, "Ahh! Kiba Sensei the chickens on fire!!" She laughed again, having done it in a mock voice of her former self. "Yeah, good times, now look at me.. I'm a famous chef and you're still fighting to get there "Sensei," oh the irony." she said Sensei practically in a form of affection. She looked at her watch than, "Well time certainly flys by when you're catching up..." She stood up grabbing her jacket, "I'm afraid I should start heading out, My kids will be getting out of school soon. How much is the meal?"

Sasuke gave a pout, "Well that's not very helpful..." He sighed before saying good bye and hanging up.

Kiba winked at her. "Free." He pulled out the cash to cover it and set it on the counter. "After all, you may be rich, but I own a candy store. Makes decent money, but it's not a restaurant. So, I'll see you Friday?" he asked hopefully.

Gaara said to Sasuke, "You could alwaygo over there. They're open until four PM I've heard." The clock said 3:52...

Sasuke frowned, "Well I need to get my ass over there quickly cause there about to close!" With that said he quickly left the shop and ran across the street when no cars were coming to get into the building!!!

She smiled, "Sure Friday, but dinner is gonna be on me. No complaints!" She said pointedly as she zipped her coat close and moved to exit the store, but not before stopping by Gaara a hidden smile in her eyes, "If Josephine Pierre ends up being a false name and is really Sachiko you'll let me know won't you, Gaara-san? It's been a long time since I've seen my friend from that private school..." She didn't leave room for him to respond back though as she exit out of the store and made her way down the block to a parking lot a few blocks away...

Gaara blinked at her retreat, and then followed her out hurriedly. He caught up to her in the parking lot. "I can't if you don't give me a way to reach you! Do you have a phone number or something?"

He doesn't recognize her.

Kayre just smiled, "That won't be needed Gaara... You'll be seeing a lot of me in your shop you can tell me than." She said simply, "Now excuse me I have two kids I must pick up or else they might complain about waiting to long in the cold." She turned away from him and began to walk again.

Gaara groaned. "Children in the bookstore... I think I need to close shop...forever." He marched back to the shop, but looked curiously at The Music Box's front door... Could it really be her? After all this time? Then for the past three months she would have been right across the street from him!

The first thing noticed at the door of Gaara's shop was a rather tall boy for his ageIf it wasn't for the fact the teen still had a bit of a boyish face to him it would of been easily mistaken for someone even older. He had a mop of hair quiet literally identical to Gaara's own cut if it wasn't for he fact the boys hair was blue.. It was almost like looking at a younger form of Gaara himself if not for the fact the boy had eyebrows and not dark rings around his eyes. There was also the issue that the boy had darker skin, possibly a Korean boy that was adopted along with the girl next to him was also Korean. In reality the two were really brother and sister and being so Kayre had decided to keep them together when adopting.

Unlike Gaara the boy was rather muscular, suffering from a disease where ones muscles just kept on growing. This didn't cause him problems thankfully and he managed to live a happy normal life. Frankly he tried to avoid as much excessive work to prevent being overly bulked; in other words to not encourage a rapid growth in his muscles...His sister thankfully was lucky enough to not suffer from it. Being that his hair was blue like his mothers he would of been easily mistaken for her actual son...

Her daughter however had a mop of rustic orange hair cut to her jaw line at the longest in front and was cut shorter on it's way back. Her eyes were blue like her brothers hair while his eyes were orange like her in a way orange like his mothers, making him look really like her son. For a girl her age though she was nicely shaped and figured with such an elegant grace to her to match her own mothers. Kayre was worried that seeing how the girl was already developing her breasts and the like she'd grow up with a very large set of breast that would cause her to suffer from back pain...

It was her son who opened the door and held it open much like a gentleman for his sister and mother to enter, before following suit after them. His eyes were like a hawk taking in every small detail of the shop.

Gaara looked up from where he was lecturing Kakashi on his slacking work and his heavily rimmed eyes narrowed. Kakashi looked and knew what the problem was. Working with Gaara for several years, he had learned a lot of his employer.

Gaara dropped his lecture. "Go dust some shelves," he said coldly. "And do it right, or you're going to be so fired, your ancestors will cringe!" He called after Kakashi.

Kakashi winced slightly and took out a cloth. He set to work.

After a moment of looking about he moved to the cafe in complete silence with his family sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Kiba!" Kayre hummed calling for her friend, "Come out of that kitchen and meet my kids, you work-aholic." She teased.

Kiba poked his head out of the kitchen window. Still the only customers in the cafe were Kayre and her kids. "Just a minute, love." he said pleasantly, "I'm trying to explain to Temari here of the importance of salsa in chili, and she's quite stubborn." He disappeared back into the kitchen.

Gaara got a piece of tag board and wrote in very big letters on the giant sheet... Moments later, he marched over to the wall where the drink menu was posted and climbed up on a chair, using gaudy duct tape to put the new sign up. Hells yeah, he would soon have that written in STONE on a PLAQUE! _Rules for anyone younger than 20: No talking, no singing, no making noise, no dancing, no hopping, no skipping. I reserve the right to kick you off the premises if these rules are not followed. - Gaara _

"Love?" Her daughter questioned looking at her mother.

Kayre simply smiled at her, "It's just a pet name between friends, Rivana.Don't let it go to your head." She teased making the girl frown.

Her son glanced at the other man psychotically putting up a sign towards children. A slight smirk was slowly forming on his lips. 'Hate kids much..' He thought to himself...

Gaara was just about to climb down from the chair when his part-time after school worker came up to him with a piece of paper. His workers always took him seriously, if they valued their jobs that was. Clenching his fist, he crumpled the paper, took his marker, and made a heavy 'x' through the 20 and made it a 17. He climbed down from the chair. "Now get back to work or I'll fire you!" Gaara snapped. He went back into the kitchen. "Temari, go do your damn job and stop chatting!" he could be heard grousing in cold annoyance.

Of course, Temari could be heard saying, "Go hire some extra help, then. I'm on strike until you get more help."

Gaara said, "No, you're not on strike. You're fired." He left the kitchen and went into the bookstore area. Moments later, the young worker dashed by Kayre's table, into the kitchen, and came out putting on an apron. He walked up to the table. "Hi, welcome to Gaara's Book and Cafe," he said, "I'm Konohamaru and I'll be your server tonight. Here are our menus," he handed each of them one with a confident smile, so apparently he often got put on waiter duty and had no problem with it. "Would you like anything to drink while you look at the menu?"

Temari left the kitchen, fanning herself with what looked to be a picture. "Oh, Gaara," she said in a singsong voice.

Konohamaru gulped, "Oh no..." he breathed. He looked at Temari, racing over to her. "Temi, please don't do it. He's going to fire me if you do it, and I need this job!"

Gaara walked into the restaurant area with a smirk on his face. "Go ahead, Temari. I'm listening. What will you do if I don't rehire you?"

Kayre had no intentions of eating, seeing how she had just eaten a while ago d set the menu aside. Right now it was just her kids who were going to eat.

Her son stood up abruptly.

"Shou where are you going? Aren't you hungry?"

Her son now known as Shou looked at her and flashed a rare smile, a smile only meant for his mother. "I'll have a water and what this.. Kiba person made you before." He said simply, before walking away to browse the books. For a sixteen year old he spoke more like a young mature adult. And that was saying a lot since most kids his age were very immature and annoying... Not before throwing in his two scents back towards the kitchen, "Impress me are you're not qualified for dating my mother!"

"Shou!" Kayre blushed sheepishly, while his sister just giggled, but the blue headed Gaara look a-like had long since disappeared into the book shelves.

"What am I going to do with that boy.,.." She mumbled under her breath with a sigh.

Kiba had nodded at Shou. "Will do," he told the boy with a cocky salute. Kiba walked to the table, a piece of paper in hand to take the order himself. He sent a winning smile at the young girl. "Why, I believe the prettiest angel I've ever seen must be you," he told her. "Did your ma adopt you from heaven or what?" He winked at her. "Are you hungry, angel? I can make anything you want, on the menu or not!"

Temari glared at Gaara. "You're twisted." She told him.

"I'm tired," he argued reasonably. "You would be too if you were me, had incompetent workers who show up four hours late, and were blackmailed daily."

"You're just saying that to make me blush.." Rivana stated WITH a blush, "And it's working..." She giggled, "What do you consider fit for an angel to eat?" Yeah and she was gonna drink it up while she could. XD

Kayre chuckled lowly, "You're going to spoil her, Kiba.." She crooned.

Shou happened to end up bumping into Kakashi...

Kiba thought for a moment before smiling broadly. "My specialty dish, of course. It's a grilled cheese sandwich with the tomato soup inside it, so you don't even have to waste time dipping!" Oooh, that was convenient! Kayre didnt like when they dipped... (XD Point 1 for Kiba????) "And believe me, I've met a few angels--though not as beautiful as you, mind you--and they love it."

Kiba shrugged at Kayre's comment as well. "I was spoiled as a kid, and look how well I turned out? I'm roguishly handsome, and charming, and a great cook! Can't beat that can you?" He winked and grinned at the girl again.

Kakashi glanced at the customer--obviously a customer by his blue hair. No one working there had blue hair. "Looking for somethiing, boy?" he asked boredly, and he swiped another shelf unenthusiastically.

Kakashi added, "If we don't have it and have to order it, you get it free."

"Interesting..." Shou hummed, "But shouldn't someone have a job they love doing rather than something they clearly are very unenthusiastic about?" His voice was dull and cold in the very mannerisms that Gaara's was.

Rivana squealed happily up and down in her seat impatiently, "I want that!! Can I have it mom?"

"You can have anything you want as long as you eat it all." Kayre pointed out, while looking at Kiba with a smug smile on her plump lips... 'Well he's certainly won her heart over' She thought quietly.

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm usually not this way. I like working here. It's just that I found out my wife is pregnant, and Gaara is going to fire all of us and close down the place. It's too much strain on him to run both the bookstore and the restaurant, so he's getting rid of the bookstore. He was going to keep the bookstore, and get rid of the restaurant, but his brother is suicidal and works in the restaurant so one of the businesses are going."

Kiba jotted it down on the piece of paper. "Great!" Kiba jotted down Shou's order as well and looked at Kayre. "And you, love? You want Kiba's Great Double Fudge as your desert?"

Kayre groaned, "Kiiiibaaaa don't mention fudge around me! You know that's my weakness!! You're so cruel.." She pouted cutely.

Shou quirked an eyebrow at this,"It's called hiring more help.. I don't see why he doesn't do that... As for your wife.. you need this job in order to sustain for the abrupt new life coming in your family, meaning another mouth to feed causing the need for more money... Or maybe you are down about the fact she is pregnant an you do not wish to have the kid?" One things for sure he was certainly a bright sixteen year old trying to poke and prod every situation at all possible angles he could think of...

Kiba grinned. "You might not want to come to my candy shop then, love. I've got fudge galore there. Why do you think I ended up gaining weight?"

Kakashi sighed. "Gaara tried hiring help. No one could possibly manage the bookstore with how he has it set up, and all the people he's tried to get to manage the restaurant failed miserably. Temari nearly bit the head off of one, I swear it. I'm just hoping a miracle comes along, because that would fix everything. Probably."

_-The Music Box- _

The minute he entered, he heard the sound of a phone dialing a series of numbers at the back of the store. He saw shelves of music boxes lined up, all of them beautifully crafted out of metal, wood, or various other elements. Some boxes were stained glass boxes and all were gorgeous. After a moment, he heard a voice, musical in itself, speaking. "Hey Alex," she said, "I'm starting to get worried." Even though she had a French accent, she was fairly fluent in Japanese.

A young voice cheered, "Mum," it was a little boy's voice, "I wanna yell at him this time, can I, can I, please, please, please?" There must have been an exchange of the phone, because after a second, the boy yelled, "DAD GET YOUR ASS H--"

The woman's gasp stopped the boy. "Rinku,where on earth did you learn such ghastly tongue?"

"Daddy," the boy said meekly.

The phone must have gone back into her hand, because she said, "Alex, you shouldn't be teaching them things like that! They're only three for crying out loud!"

"Three and a half, mummy!" A little girl chirped.

"Come home, Alex. I know you said the convention would last a few days, but four? They love you and we all miss you. At least call."

Sasuke cleared his throat, "Excuse me?" He called out shuffling through the store...

"Taniko, Rinku, you stay here while I help the customer, okay?" the woman said and a few seconds later, footsteps clicked across the hardwood floor, coming closer. The very same redhead that was in the photograph came into view only this time she wasn't as expensively garbed. She was wearing a simple white sundress with a sash around her narrow waist that was white with embroidered blue snowflakes on it. Her long curly red hair was tied back by a blue ribbon, and her white high heels had blue snowflakes on the toes only. Around her neck was a simple thin necklace with a glittering sapphire cut into a snowflake and she had similar sapphire earrings dangling from her ears. A silver ring wrapped around her ring finger... married, and so beautiful. Damn, the married ones were always taken. Her fingers were long and narrow, though that did not always indicate a pianist; it was known that long, narrow fingers helped in playing. Those green eyes seemed to welcome him to the well-lit store. "Hello," she said in greeting, "I'm Josephine; is there anything I can help you with?" Well, Sasuke probably wouldn't want to accuse her of being Sachiko or anything. If she wasn't, she probably would be offended or something.

Sasuke did have that recommendation from Shikamaru to get something for Itachi though... Maybe he could start there and work his way into talking about Alex?

Or, maybe he should just return the checks, and jump right into the fact that Naruto was in the hospital and ask if he had any connection to them?

Sasuke gave a charming smile and extended his hand, "Such a breath taking woman you are; I must say I envy the man who married you. My name is Sasuke Uchiha and a friend of mine recommended me to get something for my older brother from here. He also asked me to thank Alex for him for the choice of music. His Daughter absolutely loved it."

Josephine smiled and took his hand, a delicate feminine hold. Her hand fit so neatly into his, it was strange. "Who was your friend?" she asked, releasing him and smoothing her hands on her dress.

"Shikamaru." He said simply.

"Oh, Shikamaru, mm? He certainly was a nice fellow. I am pleased his daughter liked the music box. I will tell Alex of this when he returns." She smiled; her smile was infectious, causing him to smile as well. If Josephine and Sachiko were one and the same person, it was no wonder why the recluse liked her. There was something... well, the best way to put it was 'musical'... about her. Her very voice suggested that she was singing, even though she was just speaking normally. Her posture was perfect, and her skin was baby soft when he shook her hand.

So, where was Alex then?

"Your husband is not here?" He asked in question.

She shook her head. "He went to a convention. He's worked for two years to set up the convention, and decided to have it here in Konoha. That's why we opened shop here. Music box makers from all over the world have been invited to show off; I thought it would be a little much excitement for me so stayed behind."

"I see..I as hoping to ask him some questions, but seeing how he is not here you will have to help me instead.." He shifted his hand hand int oa pocket in his cothing to pull out his own wallet nad flip it open to a picture of Naruto, but before showing her he said, "You see I'm a doctor from the hospital and he had your husbands wallet and this baggy of checks, "He raised the hand with the bag in it as he showed her the picture, "Do you know this man or have any relationship to him?"

She frowned, taking the baggy when he offered it. "That is Alex," she confirmed. She took the checks out and looked at them, "This was the deposit from four days ago; he was going to take them to the bank on his way to the convention. Where is the cash? And the music boxes he had chosen to show at the convention?"

Sasuke sighed, "They were not on him sadly... And if that is Alex than it has cleared up my assumption.. I know this man as Naruto Uzumaki from my high school year. 9 years ago he abruptly disappeared without a word.. it would seem he's now using the name Alexandre Pierre..." he closed his wallet and put it away. "I'm afraid I have bad news for you than. Your husband showed up at my door last night at 2:46Am in the morning badly beaten with a gash on his forehand as well as a broken leg. He's now in the hospital being taken care of and moved to be under my care. Does your husband have any reason to be afraid of needs and have a cause of over dosing on pain killers.. He sees to be rather addicted to the drug, and nto only that seems to be suffering mentally in some ways. Naruto, or Alexandre to you, the person I knew would never be caught dead at a hospital, let alone addicted to drugs, or even touch them... Back in the day we would spar occasionally but he was never someone you could call a violent person. He seemed willing to cause me harm for the pain killers though. I'm sorry to inform you of this, I understand it must be very hard for you to take all in at once.."

She seemed remarkably calm,if a little tight lipped. "Oh dear," she said. "I suppose it's my turn to explain something about Alexandre." She turned toward the back of the store. "Rinku?" she called. "Be a gentleman and show Monsieur Uchiha to the apartment, will you?"

"Okay, mum," he chirped and hurried tiny feet started running toward them.

"I won't be long," she told Sasuke. "I just need to close up the store."

Twins, a boy and a girl, skidded to a halt in view. The girl was dressed much like her mother--properly lady-like in a sundress and tiny child heels, but not expensively. The boy was dressed up in a carefully ironed white dress shirt with snowflake cuffs and dark blue slacks with dress shoes on his feet. They had red hair, not as dark as the fiery red of Josephine's, but more of a strawberry-vanilla color, as though blond and red came together. They definitely were the telling point to who Naruto was, though, because they looked like Sasuke remembered Naruto as a child, only with green eyes instead of blue. Sasuke could vaguely remember that Naruto was half French, thus the blond hair.

"Mr. Uchiha, if you'll come with me, please?" Rinku said, enthusiastic but nothing short of a perfect gentleman. He reached up to grab Sasuke's hand; of course, the man was taller than the three year old could reach the hand, so he settled for tugging on the man's pantleg gently, insisting Sasuke follow.

"What about me, mummy?" the second child asked.

"Taniko, you run and get the keys from the till while I lock the front door." The little girl curtsied and skipped off holding her puffy bell bottom delicately.

As Rinku led Sasuke, he chattered. "Dad's at a convention you know. He's going to bring back the music boxes, he says! Lots of people are there, and dad's so busy, he can't even call mum! But dad's going to come back with lots of prizes 'cause he's the best in the whole world!"

Sasuke smiled warily patting the child on the head lightly, "Yes I'm sure your dad will. Your daddy is a very good person, you're lucky to have such a nice dad." It was better to not say anything to the kids... He wouldn't want them to break down in sobs or the like, though there mother was very calm about everything...

At the time Kayre had picked up her children from school and was currently walking with them to Gaara's store...

Rinku led Sasuke down a hallway and through a door that said NO ADMITTANCE. Once inside, there was a stairway which Rinku carefully held the rail for as he walked up. His parents must have been strict on manners and safety, because he seemed very polite and most kids ignored railings. At the top was another door, this one with a lock on it. It was unlocked, however, and Rinku led Sasuke in. The first room they came to was a small, tidily kept kitchen. The second room was a living room, equally as tidy and not exactly furnished expensively. Everything Sasuke could see of the apartment was ordinary, and not suggestive of that much wealth. If Sachiko had been able to go to the same school as Gaara, and as famous and known as he claimed her to be, she probably would have more money and could get the more expensive and comfortable things than they had. Despite the fact that most of the items didn't look like they were the property of the wealthy, the place was nice and cozy. The only suggestion that Josephine might be Sachiko was the simple upright piano, though it definitely looked second-hand...maybe even third-hand.

Rinku said, "You can sit wherever you like. Except don't sit on the chair there. I put a tooter on the chair so when dad sits on it he'll think he tooted!" he seemed so proud of it, and indeed the chair looked like it had a whoopy cushion on it beneath an ordinary throw blanket. The lump of the cushion was incredibly obvious.

And lots of people had pianos...

Of course there was a possibility that something went wrong and all her wealth went down hill, or she wasn't as rich and snobby as some people where. With the whoopy cushion in mind he took a seat else where patiently.

Rinku stared hard at Sasuke. "Why are you wearing pajamas?" he asked.

Sasuke blinked and looked at the boy, "I'm not wearing pajamas.." He said in a calm collective, but never the less, gentle voice, "I'm a doctor..." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I'm one of those people who give you shots so you don't get a nasty flu or something worse and for being a good boy or girl you can't a present after wards. If you're really good you get a sucker.." He winked.

The child looked frightened by something Sasuke had said... What was it? He looked like he wanted to back away, but only his manners kept him in place. His little green eyes were as wide as the sun and his hands fidgeted with his snowflake cuff.

Was it the 'shot' part the boy was afraid of?

"You're not afraid of needles like your daddy are you?" Taking notice of the child's sudden fright.

Rinku gulped. "They're really bad," he said. "They make daddy scary. Last time the doctor tried to help daddy with a needle, daddy ran away with us and mum." The child had reverted to calling his dad 'daddy'. When did Naruto run away? Where did they run from? What were they running from? What questions could the child reveal accidentally?

That certainly perked Sasuke's interests... "Are you sure it was a doctor? Medicine doesn't make a person crazy or scary.. .Maybe it was a bad person trying to harm your daddy with a very bad type of shot." He suggested.

Rinku shook his head. "Mum would know. Me'n my sis were too little to know, but mum knows. The doctor made daddy see things that weren't really there. Daddy always gets scary if a doctor helps him."

"Well don't worry, Rinku.. I'm a friend of your daddy many years ago when we were just kids like you." He smiled, "And I'm a doctor so I won't let anything bad happen to your daddy. I'll make sure to stop whoever is hurting your daddy with bad shots I can promise you that." And in reality that was probably a very big promise to be making...

Taniko and Josephine came into the room. Was it possible Gaara was wrong about who the person in the picture was? It had been seven years after all... "Rinku, Taniko, go play please," Josephine said. Rinku left but stared back at Sasuke often. Josephine sat at the other end of the couch, turning to face Sasuke. "Alex is addicted to drugs," she said bluntly. "Or, more accurately, Naruto is."

Sasuke sighed, "I was afraid you were going to say that...And you is your name possibly really Sachiko?" He hummed lowly. "And can you tell me what started this fear of needles and shots with him?"

She looked surprised at him and said slowly, "I don't know you. How do you know me?" She seemed a little suspicious and worried.

"No I clearly don't know you, but before coming here I went to Gaara's Cafe' and Book Store to speak with Gaara in what he knew about this store. The picture of you in your husband's wallet, I showed to him and he pretty much had a heart attack. He said with out a doubt that the woman in that picture was Sachiko. Than he spilled his sob story to me..." He chuckled warily,"Seeing how Gaara is very cold in person for him to show such emotion is a rare sight indeed. He can't stand music anymore ever since your disappearance years ago...It explains why he never stepped into this store. Apparently you had promised him an audition a private one with his brother and sister but when he arrived you never showed up... I'm sure that was very hard on him. There was another woman there by the name Kayre I believe.. Upon mentioning your name she paid very close attention to our conversation. However I came here to talk about Naruto and find out whatever you could tell me that is going on with him, besides the clear situation of him becoming an abrupt drug addict..."

"Kayre..." she sighed. "I think I know who she is, and why she paid attention to your conversation." The woman now known as Sachiko folded her hands in her lap. "Then if you know who I am, I may as well start from the beginning. When my grandmother died, she bestowed upon me all her wealth and lands in France. I was a landowner by the time I was six months old because of that, and as wealthy as any princess. My parents doted upon me and got me into the best private school in France."

She stood from her seat and walked over to the piano, brushing her fingers across the chipped wooden frame. "I was urged to be a lady, right and proper and not common. My father was half-Japanese, half English, and my mother was from a direct line of Frenchmen, so there were incredibly high standards set for me to maintain. They wanted me to be a pianist from a young age, so they built me my own private music parlor and I would be told to spend my every free moment in that parlor. If I wasn't sleeping, at meals, or at school, I had to be in the parlor. I couldn't do my homework at home, so I had to learn to get it done during school hours, or on the ride home or to school."

She reached forward and pulled the cover off the keys, playing a simple chord that sounded incredibly ominous. "And by the time I was ten, I was considered a musical genius. People were coming to school and demanding I play for them at this event or that party, and my parents saw this. They booked the local music hall and people paid hundreds to come watch me play. When I was thirteen, I started to sing on stage, mostly because I was annoyed and didn't want to be there in front of them all. They loved it anyway, and immediately booked tickets for the next performance. At age fourteen, my parents ordered me to write down all my songs; I never had before, I simply played them and I kept them in my head. They had my songs published, and I thought I would finally be able to play just for me...That's all I wanted, and I hardly got that in practice anymore. Expensive tutors would come and tell me, 'That's not how the song goes,' but they didn't know. I wrote the song, so it should go how I want."

She slid onto the bench placing her hands on the keys. She began to play, and Sasuke could immediately tell why people would pay to listen to her play. It was life-like... both beautiful and horrifying, like love and hate, similar to both hell and heaven, and like giving hope...and crushing it simultaneously. She didn't sing, and didn't even finish playing. Her long fingers crashed down on the piano. "They still came." she said. "I realized why; I was a novelty. People paid to watch me play simply because the poor and the common could not afford to. I knew what I had to do. I contacted a recording company. I was going to play and sing and have my music distributed worldwide, so everyone could enjoy me and what I had to offer. So they didn't have as much money as I did by the time I was six months old? That didn't make them any less important than me. It was the same way for friends. I had a lot of those, but they weren't really my friends. They didn't share my views: that the poor are as good or better than the wealthy. Kayre was the only person I had ever met who shared my views, and yet we couldn't even see each other outside of school because I was always busy with concerts."

She turned to look at Sasuke, and he could see her eyes were brimming with tears, but she was holding up remarkably well and none of those tears dropped. "By fifteen, I began recording, and I asked Kayre if she would play her violin in my songs that I'd written parts especially for her to play. I wanted to spend more time with her; get to know her better. We had great fun at the recording studio, recording enough songs by senior year to release the first CD by graduation. We even scheduled the release date for graduation day, and the music world bit their nails in anticipation."

She was now at the point where Gaara had said she disappeared; senior year. "Half-way through senior year, I decided I would start familiarizing myself with the wealth of money my grandmother had left me, and all the money the concerts and the royalties from the music books had left me with. I felt it was crude to leave my mother and father with the task of managing my money. I didn't tell them I was going to do it; I simply went. I found strange withdrawals and purchases from my funds. Why were there purchases for plane tickets and transactions at pharmaceutical companies? Why were there mysterious withdrawals?"

"I never thought my parents could be involved, even if the answer was screamed at me from the transactions to the pharmaceutical companies. My mother and father were medical researchers, so I should have known immediately. But I ignored the signs, and went to my bank. I asked who had been withdrawing money, and they said it was my father. I confronted my father and for the first time in my life, he slapped me. My personal bodyguard stepped in between us to prevent me more harm. It was what he was paid to do, after all, whether it was from my father or a stranger. My father told me not to worry what was going on with my money; he would take care of me, and that was all I needed to know." She fiddled with the ring on her finger, glancing at it with a lonesome expression.

She said, "The next day, I had to put make up on to cover the bruise on my face. I went to school, met Kayre, and overheard a boy talking about the ticket he had to my concert at the end of the week. He was very excited. I recognized him; he was always watching me during school. He skipped cooking class all the time to come watch me during free period. I knew he liked me; I had grown up very well groomed, and it was speculated that with my height and hourglass figure I would become a model if I ever left the music industry. Kayre on the other hand was different. She didn't have the luck I did with her looks. She always kept her hair in a short boy-cut, suffered acne problems, and her mother made her bind her breasts as flat as possible, so if it weren't for the school dress code, she could've been mistaken for a boy."

Sachiko stood and moved back to sit on the other end of the couch. "Kayre was my friend; I always urged her to talk to Gaara, but she never would. When Kayre saw me that morning, she saw through the make-up and asked me about the bruise. I tried to insist that it was nothing, but she wouldn't accept that. So, I distracted her. We were walking by Gaara and the two people he always hung out with, and he was talking about how excited he was to go to the concert. She probably hates me for it, but I excused myself from her and approached him, mostly to evade her questions. I asked if he wanted to hear me play that night. I said he could bring his friends if he wanted to."

She met Sasuke's black eyes with her own sparkling green orbs. "When I was picked up by my driver after school to go home, I kept thinking something was wrong. I couldn't even buckle up; the driver sped off. It wasn't my normal driver. He called back to me and told me to take the pill in the cup holder, or he would kill us both. He went onto back roads and started swerving erratically when I told him I wouldn't respond to the demands of a kidnapper. It only took a few seconds before I was terrified. I tried to open the doors, but the inside door knobs had been broken. I was scared, but I still refused to do what he wanted. He reeled the car to a stop and turned to look back at me. He held up a picture of Kayre and said to take the pill, or Kayre would die and he would make her think I hired him. I took the pill and in a few minutes, I began feeling sleepy. I passed out."

"When I woke," she fiddled with her ring again for a moment before taking it off and placing it on her palm. "I was in a dark, dank place. Naruto was there and he told me his story. Two years prior to my kidnapping, he'd gone home from school to see his mother and father lying dead on the living room floor; Naruto said they had been putting up a surprise party for his birthday when the attack came. He was kidnapped and taken to where we were then, and by then he was already a drug addict. He said they came often with pills for him even though he wasn't sick. He hated it, but they'd stuffed him so full of drugs that the mere sight of a pill bottle made him need drugs. All he knew was that the people who came were testing drugs on him. I learned soon that my own parents had abducted me from the world, because I knew too much. They normally kidnapped no-name children with very little family. People no one would miss if they disappeared... commoners. They couldn't tell the world I had moved away like they could with commoners. Rumors, like 'Did you hear the Tomi family moved to America?' wouldn't work with noticeable people like me."

"They managed it though. I wasn't used for testing. My father wanted to but my mother said no. She still loved me, she said. I had to watch Naruto as they took him away and brought him back really messed up. Then, four years ago my father wanted new test subjects. He used Naruto's sperm to impregnate me. My mother argued that it was a bad idea. The sperm would be deformed because of drugs and the child would be _wrong_. Nine months later, Taniko and Rinku were born. Extensive testing was done on them, and they showed to be very normal children, except their intelligence level was incredibly heightened. Naruto couldn't take it anymore; they came to take him away and drug him again, but Naruto flew off the handle, so to say. He hit my father and knocked the man out cold. My mother ran off calling for security, but Naruto grabbed my hand and we were already racing down a hall, trying to find an exit. We came across Taniko and Rinku, two small precious babies sleeping. We couldn't leave them, neither of us could. So we took them with. Both of us wanted a family anyway, and technically they were our children. We managed to find an exit and Naruto said he knew where we were once he saw the outside. He said we were in Suna, a place he used to have a lot of class field trips to in school. We went to the police and explained what happened, and we were put in the Witness Protection Program, given new names, whole new identities... Three years ago, we were on the run. Two years ago, my parents' organization was finally found by the government and we were told we could reclaim our identities if we wished. We decided against it, remaining under our alias of the Pierre family."

* * *

RSG and I would like to extend our thanks to you for reading this story. If you have comments, please leave us a review.

We already know:

... the characters are mostly OOC  
... only a few characters actually act a little like themselves  
... this story does not follow the Canon Naruto storyline  
... many things that happen in this story are ridiculous  
... many things in this story are entirely impossible  
... some of the words used do not exist in any dictionary known to man  
... the story is somewhat erratic with the scene switches

Please do not comment on the above stated. We're just having a little fun and at my suggestion, RSG and I have decided to post the story.

**WE CAN NOW ACCEPT ANONYMOUS REVIEWS**!! After all my experience with ffnet you'd think I'd remember to enable the feature but I forgot. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're enjoying it.


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